Golden Birthday
by SailorJen
Summary: Sequel to First Birthday.  What will Gin give Rangiku on her golden birthday?  Spoilers.


_Golden Birthday_

Of course, everybody knew it wasn't really her _golden_ birthday, but ever since she'd heard of it while on a mission to earth, she was determined that this birthday was going to be her golden birthday. And since it sounded like the biggest party of the year, no one had refused to come. Even Byakuya was sitting in the corner watching the evening's events with a perplexed look on his face.

Rangiku was stunning, dancing in the colorful kimono that Gin had delivered to her office early this morning. He hadn't signed the package but she'd know it was from him. The kimono was trimmed in a bright pink that closely resembled the color of that original scarf he'd given her for her first birthday. After all these years, she had seven or eight various ones from him. The original one was safely tucked away in a drawer in her bedroom, having seen better days.

"Clearly, the order to execute does not fit with the usual pattern of the council's-especially for a first offense," Gin heard Ukitake say to Shunsui across from him.

"Agreed. I suggest we ask permission to address the council and see if we can't sway them to be more lenient," Shunsui said, still sounding very levelheaded for how much sake he'd had. But, whenever his lieutenant walked by, he was sure to start slurring his words so that she would try to take his glass away. Clearly the man loved the attention.

Gin found that he was not in the mood to watch Shunsui flirt with Nanao and stood up, walking to the bar and leaning against it. His eyes never left Rangiku, although he doubted anyone could tell but her, the way his eyes watched the dance floor through the thin slits of his eyelids.

She caught his eye and waved, winking at him as she finished dancing with her buddies from the tenth division. As the music died down, she made her way to him through the crowd, mingling here and there as she went and somehow managing to pick up a full bottle of sake along the way before she reached him and wrapped her arms around his neck. For the first time all night, he smiled genuinely.

"Happy birthday, Ran-chan," he said, leaning his forehead against hers. "How is your golden birthday treating you?"

"Very, very well," she chimed, tilting her head back to take a swig of her bottle before offering it to him. As he was in the mood to indulge her, he did the same.

"Did you get everything you wanted?" he asked, glancing over at the table which contained a variety of unwrapped presents and about forty bottles of sake.

"Not everything," she said, leaning in to shout in his ear over the pounding music, her lips brushing against his skin as she spoke. "I haven't danced with you yet."

"Your wish," he said, removing the bottle from her hands and tossing it over his shoulder, "is my command."

Rangiku bit her lip, following the trail of her bottle until it crashed on the ground behind them, until Gin pulled her against him and tilted her back in his arms and she gasped, clenching his shoulder tight. "Gin," she said breathlessly.

He leaned in towards her. "Be careful what you wish for."

She began to giggle then as he pulled her out unto the dance floor and proceeded to put the others to shame for the remainder of the night. Of course, he had nothing to hide. They weren't officially a couple but everyone in the Gotei 13 Squads knew what they felt for one another. No one ever mentioned it, least of all him, but he noticed the way they all watched them whenever they were in the same room together. They noticed the way her smiling eyes looked upon him, and watched how they gravitated towards one another, and spied how he just had to touch her, ever so lightly, on her back or arm or cheek. He tried for years to hide it and failed.

As the music died down, she began to say her good-byes to everyone and thank them for a wonderful evening. He didn't even bother asking her if he could take her home…she'd already expect as much from him. After he talked the bartended into letting them come back for her gifts in the morning, which would be impossible to transport by hand, he told her it was time to go. She rushed over, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind his back and he obliged her, giving her a piggy back ride the whole way, since it was obvious that she would never be able to walk that distance anyway. Gin knew that she was not completely drunk. That was impossible. But the first thing she lost when she drank sake was her ability to walk in a straight line for any significant distance.

She was singing loudly in his ear when he opened her door and deposited her on the couch, returning to the front to shut the door. As he did, she stopped singing and quietly watched him until he returned and opened a window beside her.

"For a moment there, I was afraid you were leaving," she admitted.

"Why would I want to do a thing like that," he smiled wickedly, "I haven't even given you your present yet."

She shook her head in confusion and then ran her hand down the trim of the kimono, revealing even more of her cleavage than she already was, "I thought I'd already gotten my present."

"No," he said, pulling out a box from his pocket, and handing it to her. "Since it's your golden birthday, I thought I'd get you something special to remember it by."

Rangiku grinned and bounced excitedly in anticipation of what was in the box. In fact, she couldn't even wait for him to walk over and hand it to her and instead jumped up and rushed over to him as he held it out to her.

She pulled the pink ribbon on the outside of the box, letting to fall to the floor, and lifted the lid…and froze.

Gin knew that she wasn't expecting something like this. Ever since they joined the academy, and he'd first attracted the attention of Aizen, he'd tried to keep some distance from Rangiku. She hadn't handled it well but he knew it was for the best. As time went by, and he realized just what kind of sick plan that Aizen had, he knew that he wouldn't be able to walk away from the situation. Aizen trusted him, even when not under his hypnosis, and if anyone was going to be able to put a stop to him, it was someone that he was foolish enough to trust. But he couldn't tell Rangiku any of this. He didn't dare.

Just before Gin started thinking of ideas for her birthday present, Aizen revealed the last details of his plan. He was going to get the hougyoku from Rukia's body by having her executed. She was already imprisoned. Now they only awaited the substitute soul-reaper's arrival before the rest of their plan was set in motion. At best, he had a few days before their arrival. At worst, only tonight.

Were it not for Aizen, he'd have long ago given her a ring, for she was dazzled by the romantic notion of it she'd picked up in her travels to earth, but he still could not make her any such promise, for if he was to follow Aizen-and he had to if he wanted to assure that he was stopped-then he couldn't allow her judgment to become clouded. He would need her to view him as her enemy, or else she would not act convincing enough for Aizen to believe. She had to genuinely feel betrayed…and that realization was killing him inside.

Only for her sake could he keep it together.

As a variance to his idea of getting her a ring, he'd bought her a necklace with a ring on it, one made entirely of gold. He'd never given her jewelry before and knew that she was surprised. Lifting it out of the box, she held it out in front of her, staring as the moonlight flashed against the ring.

Gin stepped forward and took the necklace from out of her fingers and placed it around her neck, letting his hands brush against her skin as it settled between her breasts. Absently, he ran his fingers under the chain and then slid them up her neck until he found himself cupping her face in her hands.

Rangiku, who'd been staring at her gift, finally tilted her head back to look at him, her blue eyes shining with water. "Gin," she whispered, her lips trembling.

Damn it all. If this was the last time he was guaranteed to have her in his arms, he wasn't going to pass it up. Tilting his head to the side, he leaned in and kissed her, his lips molding against hers.

Rangiku grasped his collar with both hands, drawing closer, and eventually wrapped her arms around his neck. She rose up unto her tiptoes to gain better access. Eventually, sensing her legs growing weak as he kissed her deeply, he lifted her up off her feet.

Pulling back, she looked at him through half-closed eyes, and softly pleaded, "Stay."

"I can't stay," he told her, his smile disappearing.

Still gripping him tight, her brows furrowed and she looked at him with complete perplexity. "Gin…you're the only man I've ever wanted…the only one that I've ever-"

"Please," he interrupted her, gently setting her back on her feet, "don't say anything more tonight. You have to believe me, this cannot happen right now. I'm going to be going away for awhile…and I can't have this hanging over my head while I'm away from you. I'm sorry," he apologized.

"You're leaving for a mission?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yes," he replied.

For a moment, she said nothing. He realized why. This was the first time that he'd ever told her he was going on a mission ahead of time. In the past, he'd always just disappeared and returned once he was finished. Somehow, this meant something different, even if he'd told her nothing more about it than that. He couldn't regret it.

"When you return…"

"I'll come to find you the moment I return. I promise," he swore. That was the least he could say to her until the day came that he had to pretend to betray them all, even her.

Before he left, he kissed her once more. This moment had to sustain him for a very long time. In fact, he knew that he may never see her again once he left with Aizen. But she was the only motivation he had anymore to keep going…so that someday he might make it back here to her.


End file.
